Atlas Hosted Database Migration FAQ

What's happening and why?

We are excited to announce upgraded hosting services at Atlas Systems! For institutions hosted by Atlas Systems, you can now schedule your move into our new Azure hosting environment which will include many upgraded benefits at no additional cost. Some of these include:

• Latest generation SQL Server Enterprise, which includes full encryption for both data in transit and at rest
• A highly available environment, data in geographically closer locations to your site, and geo-redundant, cross-regional backups
• More powerful hardware and latest Microsoft technology
• Increased security monitoring and threat detection 

This migration will be an interruption to your service for a few hours (approx. 2-4 hours); however, we will be migrating your database on the evening of your choice. Since we know that most Aeon, Ares, and ILLiad staff users would like this to occur during a less busy time, we hope that the majority of sites choose a time before the end of August.

While we are super excited about all the new features in the new hosting environment, we started this process because the current colocation where we house our servers is closing in the near future. We hope you can find an evening sometime in August to let us move your database server. If you have scheduling issues, we can work with you and pick a date that works best for everyone.

How will you be affected?

Migration Process

In preparation for the database migration, there are a few steps requiring your action to ensure the migration goes as smooth as possible. 

Prior to the Migration

Configuring Your Firewall

The current default SQL connection uses port 1433, but some sites are currently using the alternate port 1344. The new environment uses port 3342 and cannot be changed to an alternative port.

Once Atlas support has contacted you with your database server IP address, please make the following changes. If you need assistance modifying the outbound firewall rules on your network, please contact your institution's IT department.

1. Configure firewall(s) to allow each computer running Atlas-hosted Aeon/Ares/ILLiad Client(s)  impacted by this move outbound access for port 3342 to your new database IP.
   
   • There may be additional network changes required to allow outbound connections to the new SQL ports/IPs, depending on your institution's network configuration.

Testing Connectivity

Download and run the testing tool below on each client machine to verify connectivity. The testing tool doesn't perform any actions that would require a user to have admin rights; however, some institutions may have restrictions preventing you from running applications. If this is the case, contact your IT department for assistance.

The testing tool will check the following:

• Connectivity to port 3342.
• Ability to write to the SQL Managed Instance Database.

Atlas has provided an .exe file, but .zip is also available if you have any issues downloading the .exe file due to your network or browser security.

Connectivity Test Download (exe file) or Connectivity Test Download (zip file)

After you have downloaded the file:

1. Right-click and Run as Administrator.
   • If you receive a Windows Defender pop-up, click More Info and then click Run.
2. Follow the application prompts.
   • You will be required to fill out your name, institution, and email address. If the required fields are not completed, the connectivity test will fail.

Please report any unsuccessful results to Atlas support at support@atlas-sys.com and your local IT staff for follow-up troubleshooting.

Successful Test Results		Unsuccessful Test Sample Results

Click on the image above to see a video on using the testing connectivity tool.

At the Coordinated Time of the Migration

Replacing Your DBC File

1. Close all client applications.
2. Atlas will provide a new DBC file that will be used to replace the existing DBC in the client.exe directory.
   • Client .exe files are typically found:
     • Aeon.exe in C:\Program Files(x86)\Aeon\
     • AresClient.exe in C:\Program Files(x86)\Ares\
     • ILLiadClient.exe in C:\Program Files(x86)\ILLiad\
   • If your computer permissions do not allow you to save the new DBC file to the Client directory, contact your local IT department for assistance.
   • If you are unsure of where to find your current DBC file(s), open the SQL Alias Manager (SAM) and highlight the appropriate DBC file in the left-hand column. The location of the DBC file will in appear in the bottom, left-hand corner.
3. Save the NEW Atlas supplied DBC file to the client directory.
• Review this client.exe directory to verify that the only .dbc file is the NEW Atlas supplied DBC file.
4. Close the SAM if open, navigate to the appropriate client directory in File Explorer, and delete the pre-existing DBC file and any other old DBC files in that same directory.  Please note that any files with the name logon.dbc or LOGON.dbc will override any other DBC    files in this client directory even if set as default.
5. Open the SQL Alias Manager (right-click the SAM shortcut and select "Run as Administrator") and set the new Atlas supplied DBC file as default. For more information on setting the location in the SAM, see Atlas SQL Alias Manager.
   
   1. Click the Open button on the ribbon.
   2. Browse to the directory that contains the NEW DBC file and select the file.
   3. Click Set as Default.
   4. Click Save.
   5. Close the SQL Alias Manager.
      • For more information on uploading a new DBC file and naming conventions, please contact support for help or see:
        • Creating a New Aeon DBC File.
        • Creating a New Ares DBC File
        • Creating a New ILLiad DBC File

 Click on the image above to see a video on replacing the DBC file.

** Please do not rename, delete, or move DBC files for databases that are not affected by this migration.  This may include OCLC-hosted ILLiad databases or Atlas-hosted Aeon databases that are already in the  Azure environment. **

Atlas will Perform the Migration

1. Atlas will perform the following actions during the migration:
   • Stop all services to ensure no further connections are made to the existing database.
   • Migrate the database to the new infrastructure.
   • Reconfigure the webserver & AtlasBI (for Ares & Aeon sites) to point to the new database location.
2. After Atlas contacts you to confirm the migration has been completed, logon to the affected ILLiad/Ares/Aeon Client and ensure connectivity has been restored.  You may need to test for one or more applications (ILLiad/Ares/Aeon) depending on which database(s) were moved.

Post-Migration

1. Please let us know if you have any Read-Only database users that were set up to query your Atlas- hosted database for external integrations or reporting through third-party applications, like Microsoft Access. Security best practices require older accounts are recreated with new passwords.
2. You'll also need to update any other external connections you have to your Atlas-hosted database, such as Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) connections, with the new SQL IP, database name, and the password we will provide.
3. Atlas Hosting Services will update AtlasBI and SSRS for Ares & Aeon sites to point to the new database location (see Atlas hosted SSRS for Aeon/Ares will be decommissioned on 8/31/2019 for more information).
4. You may wish to close port 1344/1433 outbound, as applicable.

What’s Next?

Atlas will be contacting all affected sites to select a migration date and provide copies of new DBC files.